Phil Magness

Phil MagnessBerry College

Dr. Phil Magness is a policy historian. He currently teaches in the Department of Economics at the Campbell School of Business at Berry College. Echoing the warnings Bastiat and Tocqueville, his research area encompasses the two great political problems of the 19th century United States: slavery and taxation. Magness is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book Colonization after Emancipation: Lincoln and the Movement for Black Resettlement (University of Missouri Press), offering reexamination of Abraham Lincoln’s anti-slavery and freedmen’s policies during the American Civil War. He has also written extensively on the history of the federal income tax, the American free trade movement, and the history of abolitionism. His historical writings have appeared in the Journal of the Early Republic, the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association,Constitutional Political Economy, and Slavery & Abolition, as well as popular outlets including the New York Times, the Daily Caller, Britannica.com and the History News Network.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Magness completed his undergraduate studies in Political Science and Economics at the University of St. Thomas and obtained his MPP and PhD at George Mason University.

Blog Posts

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, declaring the slaves of the rebellious southern states “forever free,” is probably the most important event of his presidency or even his life. But most people — including a few professional historians — get the Proclamation wrong.

Instead of looking for a “side” to champion, we are better served by recognizing that even amid the unbridled horrors of slavery and the devastation of war, there may still be a few who are fighting for something better than their country’s cause.